So after talking about school shootings with my kids, we are all wondering — why not teach kids & teachers to plan ambushes in their classrooms? Just like in, say, a roleplaying game; teach them to plan ahead, know how to fight, have strategies, and when the shit goes down, prepare to kick ass. Sure,…
122) All cops are bastards: School shootings, the police, and taking back our society
I shared this on Facebook this morning — Now, we are told that the police are “to serve and protect”. That is, to serve and protect us, the public. My experience has repeatedly shown me this is not true. The police exist to serve and protect CAPITAL. And time and time again, when the interests…
121) When you feel you’ve been turned into a newt
“Waking up this morning, I smile;24 brand new hours lay before me;I vow to live fully each moment,And to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.” — morning gatha; Thich Nhat Hanh * * * * * So, I started this practice about 20 years ago, after reading one of TNH’s books. The…
120) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 9: Healing, and the Doctrine of Original Awesomeness
The essence of all three approaches to healing that I am planning to cover is the same. It is rooted in what I have previously called the Doctrine of Original Awesomeness (https://dandolderman.org/2020/09/22/88-jordan-peterson-part-7-psychology-at-the-ending-of-the-world-subsection-2-the-doctrine-of-original-awesomeness/). This, in short, is the basic starting point of Humanism, and is increasingly recognized within the bio-psycho-social sciences as “the way we are”.…
119) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 8: Oops, I fucked up
I made a mistake in my last post, and it has caused me some consternation. More accurately — I made a mistake in my last post, and it has activated a set of sub-routines in my consciousness-program, or “parts of my self”, that function to erase me from existence. Yikes. What was this oh-so-terrible mistake? …
118) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 7: Resistance, the sneaky bastard
In this series on healing, we have been discussing the “problem” of resistance, and noting how people’s deeply internalized self-feelings and beliefs can be so strong, so reactive, so “resistive” that they are able to forestall, sabotage or otherwise prevent the person from truly walking the path to healing. In other words, far too often,…
117) Moral hypocrisy and the consequent impossibility of lasting international peace
As we prepare to send more arms & $$$ to Ukraine (which I support), it is interesting that we also widely condemn China for potentially providing the same support to Russia. I mean, sure, obviously, we disagree vehemently with what Russia is doing, to the point that we are near-ready to go to war over…
116) Dealing with the Devil: Adventures in parenting, Part 4 — Role-play, kids, and personal growth
So, Siskenet had a pretty interesting discussion with a Lord of Evil eh? What fertile ground has been prepared! And seeded! Such rich soil, such abundant energy, for future conversations and questions about topics like power, compassion, maturation, stereotypes of masculinity, personal responsibility, and Lord (of Evil) knows what else! This is one of…
115) Dealing with the Devil: Adventures in parenting, Part 3 – Philosophizing with Asmodeus
“It’s like a game, Siskenet. You like games?” After a pause, reluctantly, Siskenet nodded. “Right, so if you want a really excellent, super-satisfying game, what has to happen?” Siskenet answered right away. “You have to win?” The man laughed heartily, holding his belly. “Well,” he sniffed, wiping his eyes, “that does help.” He blew his…
114) Dealing with the Devil: Adventures in parenting, Part 2 – Asmodeus and Siskenet
Siskenet glanced sideways at Faeruz, hoping for a signal, a suggestion, anything helpful at all. Faeruz, unfortunately, was staring ahead, blank, as if in shock. Which made sense. They were, after all, being interrogated by a very large, terrifying, horned creature; an actual Demon, from the actual Hells. And not just one. This one,…
113) Dealing with the Devil: Adventures in parenting, Part 1 – A Sentient Universe
So, the other day, my kids and I made a deal with Baphomet. It was our second time making a deal with a Lord of Evil. Hmmm, you may be getting the wrong impression here. Let me explain. In my Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign, demons and devils are quite real, as the incarnation of…
112) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 6: Backlash, resistance, and dissociation
Why am I making such a big deal about Backlash & resistance? It’s because resistance, learning to feel into it, to approach it and eventually learn from it and harness it, IS much of the healing path. If you want to heal, or “grow” as a person, then you are working with resistance. Inevitably. …
111) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 5: What Backlash can teach us about ourselves
Backlash, as we were discussing, is a major impediment to healing. I believe the technical term is “pain in the ass.” Backlash causes so much bloody suffering, causes us to perpetuate our own misery, undermine our goals, mess up our relationships, underperform in our careers, neglect our health, and transmit our dysfunctions onto the next…
110) From Shitty-ness to Well-ness, Part 4: Healing, when you hate yourself, think you don’t deserve it, want to die, believe it’s impossible anyway, avoid doing what you most need, and constantly sabotage yourself
When you start to turn towards “healing”, you will very likely experience a backlash. Probably lots of backlashes. You and Mr/Ms Backlash are going to become really great friends, in fact. But first, you’re going to be enemies. Epic enemies. Like, Avengers vs. Thanatos kind of epic. Sparta vs. Xerxes. The Boston Bruins vs. Montreal…
109) The bad guys behind The Bad Guy: Or, How the West started this War
The thing that I wish our media talked about more often, and that we discussed more openly amongst ourselves, is how our governments are complicit in causing things like this war against Ukraine. There is a history here, leading back to the oh-so-celebrated “End of the Cold War”, which I remember clearly as I neared…
108) War, Part 4: Solutions?
It seems to me that war stops only when one of two conditions are met. Neither of these conditions are very likely, or easy. They are definitely easy to critique, easy to dismiss. But the alternative, as we discussed previously, is more war in a world, bristling with weapons, poised on the brink of global…
107) War, Part 3: The 21st Century
Now, in the 21st century, we can’t afford this tragic spectacle of war and obedience to the power-seekers, anymore. The future cannot be determined by the despots. The stakes are just too damn high. I mean, they always were; the cost of human suffering is incalculable. But now, it’s incalculable to the power of incalculable.…
106) War, Part 2: Hate and Heroism
History can seem so clean and simple, when we look at it through the lens of the narrative we prefer. Usually, that narrative involves Us, our people, our nation, “people like us”, being the Good Guys, the reasonable ones, the honourable ones, prevailing over Them, “those people”, those non-allied nations, “people not like us”, being…
105) War, Part 1: Love
“Hey Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma…..What did you do during the Great War?” Have you ever thought of how you will answer questions like that? Because your future will, if you are lucky, arrive, and you will have lived through whatever atrocities humankind inflicts on each other in the present days and coming years. And someday,…
104) Freedom Convoy “vs.” the Police
So, you might be wondering, why didn’t the police/government take control of the “Freedom Convoy” much, much more quickly? Why was Canada brought to a standstill by this protest, and for so long? Why? These are the questions on many Canadians’ minds right now. They’re being talked about in newspapers, on CBC radio constantly, in…